Better Than Lennon: The Music and Talent of Paul McCartney Reviewed By Michelle Kaye Malsbury

Michelle Kaye Malsbury

Reviewer Michelle Kaye Malsbury:
Michelle was born in Champaign, IL. Currently, she resides in Asheville, NC
and is in her second year of doctoral studies at Nova Southeastern
University in Ft. Lauderdale with specialization/concentration in
conflict resolution and peace studies. She has over six hundred
articles published on the web and one book published thus far with
many more in the wings. Hobbies include; reading, writing, music, and
playing with her Australian Cattle Dog, Abu.

John Cherry, author of Better Than Lennon: The Music
and Talent of Paul McCartney, has spent twenty five years in the
athletic department of the University of North Carolina. (2009, p.9)
He has written one other book and is a self proclaimed Beetle’s
analyst and enthusiast.

Better Than Lennon (2009) is a comparison/contrast of
the overall work and career achievements between
Paul McCartney and John Lennon. There are numerous interviews from a
variety of sources and resources included in this analysis and
review that help to support its conclusion. It begins at the
beginning of the Beetles and walks through decades of their music and
lives to conclude that Paul McCartney was the better
lyricist/musician of the two.

The introduction begins with one of the last albums by
Paul McCartney titled “The Fireman”. (2009, p.11) John Cherry
describes his thoughts and feelings while listening to this
CD, which was produced post 9/11, and interestingly
enough provided him with the topic for this book. (p.12) Mr.
Cherry analyzes McCartney and Lennon based on creativity, song output
and ratings, length of time on charts, instrumental abilities, and
more.

Chapter one highlights from 1963 thru 1964 and covers the Beetles
“Silly Love Songs” era. (2009, pgs.15-22) Cherry said that these
early songs were predominantly “about
relationships” with femenine appeal as their push or
draw for success. Each album created in this time frame is
scrutinized as to which of the two, McCartney or Lennon, authored the
most songs and what affect that had on the charts/sales.

Chapter two spans from 1965 thru 1966 where Lennon had a slight
edge over McCartney until “Yesterday” came out. (2009, pgs.
23-29) Again there was the back and forth of who
dominated authorship, but also a note about the quality of
Paul’s musical skills and leadership within the band
itself has now emerged.

The following chapters span sometimes for a single year or three
or four with later chapters adding more years to the mix. These
chapters talk about the dynamics within the band and ideas that
surfaced for songs and albums and the workability thereof. There
are detailed sales numbers for various albums and number of weeks on
charts offered as ammunition for which was the better
singer/songwriter, etc..

When Yoko Ono comes on the scene and becomes a musical/romantic
component for John’s future things begin to fall apart for the band
as a whole. Supporting this hypothesis are interviews from various
magazines and people closely associated with the Beetles and their
members lifestyles on and off the stage, as well as, conversations
within the members of the Beetles on this topic. Yoko became such a
competing force that the Beetles eventually broke up and went their
separate ways much to the chagrin of their adoring fans and
perhaps if the Beetle members were quite honest them too.

After the split Mr. Cherry analyzes the solo personas’ of Lennon
and McCartney. Again he (Cherry) is comparing/contrasting
them based on the items highlighted above. By most
accounts and inferences drawn in this book by the
author, McCartney was considered the more successful of the two.
However, there are times when they run neck in neck, especially
after John is tragically shot and killed.

Yoko stumbles singularly in the musical arena and most
reviews consider her a bust at best. Prior to John’s death there
were some mediocre collaborative efforts conducted between them, but
none as successful as John had been with
the Beetles. “Just Like Starting Over” went
near the top in the US and number one in the UK just post John’s
death. Eventually Yoko releases some of John’s older work
in efforts to resurrect his musical career, which was cut
way short by his untimely and violent death. These are met with mild
interest by fans around the world.

Meanwhile, Paul marries twice [the first wife and musical partner
Linda died of cancer, the second was to model Heather Mills which
ended in divorce] and continues to create exceptional songs and
lyrics, even taking his talents on the road in sell out world
tours well into his 60’s. Clearly, Paul is the champion
in this contest of best singer/songwriter, but John will not be
forgotten for his contributions to the music world.

I, like the author, am an avid Beetle’s fan. I found this
exploration into the remarkable talents of Paul McCartney and John
Lennon a compelling, enjoying, and interesting read. Better Than
Lennon is packed with tid-bits of historical data about
songs/albums, producers/band members over the years, charts/ranking
[both in the US and UK], personal issues affecting the members of
this legendary group and that affection as it associates with the
music produced during that time frame. For any die-hard Beetle
fan this is a must read!